Tentering machine



y 1944. .1. KREEFT TENTERING MACHINE Filed Oct. 21, 1943 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR, 7611M, llmuf-t ATTORNEY.

Patented July 4, 1944 TENTERING MACHINE John Kreeft, Haledon, N. J., assignor to Morrison Machine 00., Paterson, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey Application October 21, 1943, Serial No. 507,677

3 Claims.

This invention relates to cloth tentering machines of the class characterized by a pair of endless chains each of which is extended around wheels and which chains are arranged side by side but spaced apart and include as links thereof tentering clips which, when the chains are ad vancing with their inner stretches travelling in therewith so as to grip the cloth but which, when the clip in its circuitous travel as a part of the chain approaches or is about to depart from the cloth at the beginning and end of said stretch of the chain, is moved from the lower jaw by suitable means respectively to permit the cloth to enter the clip and the clip to depart from the cloth. 1

During travel of the clips in the mentioned stretch of either chain they have heretofore been supported against the resistance of 5th.? cloth to stretching primarily by a guidway facing outward or away from the opposite chain and at one'side of, as below, the plane of the cloth, and by a. secondary guideway, as one over hanging a part of each clip remote from its jaws, which merely prevents the clips from tilting around. the primary guideway-as, in eiiect, a fulfcrum, this being an incident, partly of course of'unbalanced weight of the clips, but mainly due to. resistance of the cloth to stretching imposed above, that is, at one side of, such fulcrum. In time, wear of the guideways, as of course also the clips, occurs so that the clips sag-that is to say, in such manner that their gripping means press the gripped portion of the cloth downwardly or out of the plane in which the cloth is intended to be stretched, or the plane in which such stretching occurred in the initial or unworn state of the parts; in other words, the clips cease to act only as intended, or only to stretch, but also act to press the cloth, which has the effect of misshaping it, leaving it not fiat as it entered the machine but more or less bulged as an incident of the pressure. This condition eventually becomes so serious that the guideways and, in fact also, the clips have to be replaced with new ones or in some way reconditioned, in any event a quite expensive procedure.

According to this invention I have overcome this fault primarily by so-construeting the machine that each clip, while travelling as a part .of the mentioned inner stretch of the chain of which it forms a part, obtains bearings on guide.- ways disposed both sides of the plane of stretching the cloth, or what I term the gripping plane of the machine, being that plane which is coincident with the two lines in which the two chains are intended to act, in stretching the'cloth', to

grip the latter.

In the drawings, q

- Fig. l is a cross-sectional view of so much of a tentering machine constructed in accordance with my invention as is here material; Fig. 2 showsa clip contributingto my inVention, as seen from its inner/side; Fig. 3 is a fragmentary plan of the part of the fixed structure which provides the upper guideway, the clamping devices being removed; and

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal vertical section of wha appears in Fig. 3. Fixed structure is shown at including a bed 2 which may be of any length toward and from the ,observer in Fig. 1 and has depressed lateral ledges 3, suchbedbeing of course duplicated, or one for each chain. Each such bed provides bearings for the mentioned two wheels (not shown, but one at each end thereof) around which the corresponding chain extends and one of which is a suitably driven sprocket-wheel. At 4 is shown one of the two usual circular openers, which as usual are also positioned at the ends of the bed and serve to engage the movable jaw of each clip to shift it to the open position (or out of gripping relation to the fixed jaw) during movement of the clips around the corresponding wheel. The left side of the bed in Fig. 1 is what I term its inner side, being the side adjacent the other bed and hence the cloth. A rail or flange upstands at the free margin of each ledge, comprising a metal strip 5 and a phenolite strip 6 between strip 5 and the bed, which rail affords a guideway for the chain clips, the righthand or relatively outer rail being sufficient in itself as a guideway since the corresponding stretch of the chain is subject only to the weight of each clip to tilt it. But with the relatively inner or left-hand rail another guideway is to cooperate, thus:

On and extending lengthwise of the bed is a guiding structure formed as follows: A series of bosses 1, seated on the bed, have projecting upwardly and inwardly therefrom arms or standards 8 which are connected with a rail parallel with the bed; this rail comprises a cross-sectionally L-shaped body portion 9, formed with one flange thereof projecting horizontally outward, or to the right in Fig. 1, and the other downward, and a phenolite strip 9a secured to the outer face of the latter flange by screws ID, the outer face of the strip being. in a plane coincident with the outer face of the rail 5-6 at the left side of the bed. The guiding structure is clamped to the bed so as to be adjustable thereon inwardly and outwardly as follows: At suitable intervals the bosses are clamped byscrews H penetrating transverse slots l2 in them andv the screws l4. By releasing all the screws the guiding structure may be adjusted inward or outward, to wit, by rotating the eccentrics, whose heads lfia, which are made by the screws to exert direct clamping pressure on the bosses, are here formed with radial holes I5b to receive a spanner or equivalent wrench. The fixed structure thus includes guideways at 99a and 5-6 which face outwardly and are arranged at opposite sides of, or here one below and the other above, the mentioned gripping plane.

Each clip comprises a body providing, as usual, the fixed jaw and, pivoted therein, the movable jaw. The base I6 of the body is formed with a depending link portion I6a by which it is pivoted, as at H, to the next adjoining links (one such link being shown in part at I8 in Fig. 2) and which has a vertical plane face "5b to wipe the outer face of rail 5-45, and at [60 is the usual inwardly extending horizontal plate forming the fixed jaw of the clip. Upstanding from the base and overhanging the fixed jaw is an arm l9 in which is pivoted at the usual lever 2| providing the movable jaw of the clip, coacting with the fixed jaw to grip the cloth. This arm has an upward projection 22 provided at 22a with a plane vertical face to wipe the outer face of rail 9-911.

Thus, according to my invention, guideways are provided for each clip at both sides of the gripping plane a: of the clip, each active in a direc- 5 at a faster rate than the other the guiding structure including strip 9a may be adjusted in the way explained.

To support the clips they may obtain contact with the ledge 3 and the upper surface of rail 55.

In the appended claims I term the clip-link Ilia .and the portion of its projection 22 which contacts the rail 9-9a abutments.

In the conventional machine the cloth being tentered of course lies in a substantially horizontal plane and in such case I not only provide that the construction shall be as hereinbefore set forth but I place the center of gravity of the clip outward ofthe plane of contact of the outer face of rail 5-6, in this example by properly weighing for this purpose the projection 22. Thereby whatever tilting the clip tends to undergo is in the direction outward or from the cloth, so that the clip itself is not a factor in causing the mentioned bulging of the cloth.

Having thus fully described my invention what I claim is:

1. In a tentering machine, the combination, with fixed structure for guiding the tentering clips of such machine interlinked as components of an endless chain, said structure having, above and below and parallel with and spaced from the plane of the cloth to be tentered, flanges having surfaces facing away from the cloth, of one such clip comprising, with a base in contact with said surface of the lower flange and having an upwardly facing cloth-supporting jaw and an arm overhanging the jaw, a movable jaw pivoted in said arm and normally urged into cloth-gripping relation to the first-named jaw, said arm itself having an upward projection in contact with said surface of the upper flange.

2. The combination set forth in claim 1 char-'- acterized by the center of gravity of the clip being outward of the vertical plane in which the base contacts said surface of the lower flange.

3. In a tentering machine, the combination, with an elongated substantially horizontal bed having a substantially horizontal flange pre senting a surface facing away from the cloth to be tentered, of an elongated structure carried by the bed and including, above and substantially parallel with and spaced from said flange, a rail also presenting a surface facingaway' from the cloth to be tentered, and independent means. supported by the bed and engaged with said structure at spaced points lengthwise thereof, for adjusting the latter crosswise of itself toward or from the cloth, said surfaces of said flange and rail affording guiding means for an endless chain of cloth-engaging t ntering devices.

- JOHN KREEFI. 

